I can say nothing- except "bugger me"! I just love that shotgun shell.

0

America, the greatest gangster of all time. With 200 million odd foot soldiers at it's whim and call.
When you fill your car with refined oil remember that it has been paid for with blood and guts, some from your own countrymen, most not.

Give it turbine style tail fins so it spins.The gyroscopic effect eliminates fishtailing and results in a huge increase in range and accuracy. Cut off the top of a plastic soda bottle, cut eight evenly spaced slits, and bend 'em up at an angle.Fasten to your tail shaft(A section of 1/2"pvc pipe is just the right size) Use whatever you want for a forward weight/warhead.

True, but they are consistent - and a lot better than the common spud, which is inconsistent, has poor aerodynamics, etc, etc.

It's not that bad, it'll hold quite a good course - or if you set it spinning, you can use the Magnus effect to improve range and accuracy.

Really, all we have for ammo is spheres, potatoes/other vegetables/fruit, semi-rare/slightly pricey items like CO2 cartridges, or stuff you have to make - could just be as simple as a length of steel rod that's been hacked to length, or a lot more complex.
I know you can theoretically use air rifle pellets and similar, but not many people have ever done that.

So, of the two cheap options, it's a sphere, or a spud - and the sphere wins out on aerodynamics there.

Natrually, that's why history gave us the musket ball, not the musket spud, and for smoothbore barrels it's workable compromise, my point was that when talking of ideal projectiles, it's not a desirable shape.

In spite of this of course, the spherical projectile is still with us - in shotgun shells, of course, and mines like the Claymore for example pack 700 of them that are blasted out at well over three times the speed of sound. Interestingly, the US is looking to replace flechette rounds for their tanks with the M1028 cannister rounds filled with over 1,000 tungsten spheres.

edit: here's a video of the M1028 spewing out its payload at over 4,000 feet per second

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Cgn1nhUEgo8[/youtube]

I wouldn't want to be on the other side of that storm, you can literally see the shot tear the air apart

yeah spheres are not as good as 'normal' rifle bullets but they are the best thing we can use in smoothbore barrels... (ok, they are the best thing apart from flechetes or drag stabilised projectiles.....)